


Song Bird

by SurpassTheStars



Series: MAGtober 2020 [9]
Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: ? kinda, Angst, BTH bingo prompt: muzzled, Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist Has Wings, Jonathan "Jon" Sims | The Archivist Needs a Hug, MAGtober, Martin POV!, Post-Episode: e160 The Eye Opens (The Magnus Archives), Selective Mute Jonathan “Jon” Sims | The Archivist, Whump, but not really, day 9: avatar, im so sorry, im tired idk, it’s a gift from the eye
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-14
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:40:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27015145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SurpassTheStars/pseuds/SurpassTheStars
Summary: Martin cursed as he looked up, one by one huge eyes started to open in the blue sky, turning it into a dark murky green colour. The eyes never blinked, they just stared. He snapped out of it when someone shoved past him, fearfully running.
Series: MAGtober 2020 [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1958977
Comments: 4
Kudos: 40





	Song Bird

**Author's Note:**

> would you believe me if I told you it’s 2:30 am and I don’t remember half of what I wrote?

When the Change happened Martin was just finishing what he needed to do in the village, the safe house was just a ways out of any road so unless you knew where it was, it would be completely hidden out of view.

Even with the added security a cottage on the outskirts of a forest would be, it was difficult to get back home after a trip down to the village for supplies when you factor in the fact that Martin’s head tends to get lost in itself and he wanders off for a while before realising he got lost and trying to get back home gets even harder.

Usually on those days, Jon finds him before he finds the cottage.

Lucky for him or unlucky he supposes, he was leaving a store when the Change happened, Martin had just gotten groceries that would last them a while when he heard multiple screams happening outside. He was hit with a bone deep feeling of  _ wrong _ as he put down his bags to rush outside to see what was happening.

It was a lot to take in, the ground was cracking into different parts, people trying to rush away from it as soon as possible before getting grasped by an invisible force and flung violently into who knows where. It felt like an earthquake before the first eye opened in the sky.

Martin cursed as he looked up, one by one huge eyes started to open in the blue sky, turning it into a dark murky green colour. The eyes never blinked, they just stared. He snapped out of it when someone shoved past him, fearfully running.

_ Jon _ . Cursing again, Martin started running towards the cottage praying he found it this time without any fuss. If what’s happening is the fears coming into their world he doesn’t want to find out what would happen to him if he got lost in the woods which is probably going to be the domain of the Hunt now.

His run there was a blur, he was high off adrenaline and fear that everything mashed together into one. The woods that parted, the howls he heard and the fear he felt, the darkness that pooled around his legs uncomfortably all fell to the back of his mind.

He got to the safe house before his legs gave out, adrenaline can only take you so far but he thankfully made it there with only wobbly legs. The safe house looked worse for wear, the windows were shattered and the door was flung off its hinges and now laying on the ground.

Martin rushed inside looking around for any signs of Jon, the place was even a bigger mess on the inside than on the outside, chairs knocked over, boxes of statements and other belongings spilled all across the floor, making a clear circle in the middle of it, where a single statement laid.

Cautiously, he picked it up and started reading, getting more and more anxious as he read on. “I open the door…” he threw the statement back onto the floor, hands shaking from anxiety, the ritual was complete and Jon was missing.

—————

Martin couldn’t tell how long it’s been since the apocalypse, time worked differently now, but he knew it had been a long time since he saw Jon. He was surprisingly aligned with the Eye enough to be able to trek the ruined world with  _ little _ harm, the cut that ranged from just above his left ear to below his chin was healing pretty well all things considered.

After a few run-ins with some avatars he was steered towards the panopticon to search for Jon, he had been told that Jonah was there but it was from the entity called It-Is-Lies so he didn’t really know how much he trusted it.

Although, he had a run in with Peter Lukas that almost had him falling back into the Lonely. He huffed as he pulled on his hair, it used to be only white on the edges back when he worked for Lukas but now it had been enflunged with the white, a clear mark of the Lonely.

The Lonely was the eye of the storm for him, it was so quiet unlike the outside world that it felt like his ears were stuffed with cotton, he almost let himself drift deeper into it had Peter not shown up and brought forth all of his less than nice feelings.

Martin ended up leaving the Lonely with white hair and blood on his body that wasn’t his. If you were to ask him, Peter deserved what was coming for him.

After that encounter he hadn’t come across many avatars he recognised, he tried to steer clear of populated domains as much as he could to make his way to the panopticon quickly. It had worked for the most part, Helen loved popping up to ‘make sure he was alive enough to see Jon’ and he had gotten a few calls from Annabelle.

—————

The panopticon was a looming building, somehow twisting in ways that shouldn’t be possible had the physics of the world still worked. It was a mix and match of the institute he could tell as much, all shoved together to make a crudely put together tower that makes you feel small just looking at it.

Martin took a deep breath, shaking his hands to get himself ready to face Jonah, and maybe see Jon. The grand door to the panoramic had eyes skilfully carved into it in such a way that he knew it wasn’t there for the aesthetic. He pushed them open with a scowl and stepped in, the door slammed shut behind him.

The inside looked more put together than the outside did, it was grand, not something you’d expect in the apocalypse for sure. It looked like the waiting room of a fancy place, everything was squeaky clean and neat, it felt wrong on multiple levels. There were footsteps coming from his right side making him tense up and glance in its direction.

“ _ Martin!  _ How nice of you to finally show up.” Jonah said, still in the body of Elias. He looked just as put together– if not more– as he did when Martin started working in the institute, fitted suit and fancy carved cane in all their glory.

“ _ Jonah. _ ” Martin replied, he had half the mind to not attack him immediately just to see his smug smile fall off his face. “Where’s Jon.”

Jonah chuckled, “the Archivist is fine. You on the other hand, look like you need a bath and some rest.”

“I am not going to  _ re _ –”

“Come on, Martin. I’m giving you an opportunity to see the Archivist and you’re going to turn it down so fast?” He raised an eyebrow, smile now turned mocking.

“And how are you so sure I won’t just kill you here where you stand?” Martin crossed his arms, he really wanted to kill Jonah and get this over with.

“Because if you do, the Archivist dies with me, remember?” Martin deflated at that, he can’t have Jon dead. “Good. Now follow along, the sooner we’re done the sooner you’ll see him.”

—————

Martin would never admit it in the presence of Jonah but he needed that shower, it felt good to finally get rid of the grime and blood on his body and clothes. The clothes he was given were soft unlike his worn out clothes he used to get here. It felt wrong to drop everything to take a shower and get cleaned up but he had little choice if he wanted to see Jon.

Opening the door to the bathroom, he stepped outside to see Jonah sitting at the desk, back turned to him but he looked up almost immediately and towards Martin.

“You’re done. Very well let’s head on shall we, I’m sure you’re eager to see Jon.” Jonah said, standing up and fixing his suit. He left the room that was claimed as Martin’s, hardly waiting for Martin to catch up with him as he briskly started walking down the hall.

Martin followed to the best of his ability, just barely keeping Jonah in sight before he disappeared into another sharp turn. Martin exhales and starts halfway jogging to catch up to him when he comes face to face with Jonah waiting for him in front of another set of carved double doors.

“Here we are. Would you like to go first?” Jonah said, pushing the door open while looking at Martin.

Something uncomfortably flipped in Martin’s stomach, he hesitated a second before pushing inside into the pitch black room. It was quiet, nothing but the sounds of their footsteps echoed in the room which made Martin even more anxious.

Jonah flipped the lights on and Martin gasped at the scene in front of him. “Oh my god, Jon–” he moved forward to help him but was blocked by Jonah’s cane.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, it bites.” It took everything in Martin to not knock over Jonah and rush towards Jon, especially when he looked like that.

The room was empty sans a couple of round tables tucked in the corner and an open kitchen. Jon was more or less chained to a stage, dressed in fancy clothing, hands and legs bound together and he was  _ muzzled _ for god's sake. Martin squints when he sees a glimmer of green, are those  _ wings? _ They were forced against his back bound in an uncomfortable looking manner.

“Did you know that the Archivist is quite the song bird, Martin?” Jonah said, breaking him out of his horrified state and having Jon to snap his head up to look at him. “The beholding completed it with the wings.”

He tried to push the cane away to move towards Jon but Jonah moved it faster. “I assume you want to have a little reunion, knock yourself out.” He said, before walking towards the kitchen area.

Martin rushed towards Jon, who flinched away from the sudden movement, before slowly relaxing again. “What did he do to you, Jon?” He wanted to fret over him because Jon looked so small, the clothes dwarfed him and it looked like he hadn’t eaten in a while.

Pulling out a knife he had kept, he started breaking the ropes hands steady contrasting Jon’s shaking form. He reached for the muzzle, lips curling in distaste as the thought of Jonah using a muzzle on a person. He swiftly removed it, looking at the deep lines of red that it left behind on Jon.

He tried to move behind him, but Jon quickly twisted around with him to not leave his back exposed, still not speaking a word. “I’m just gonna get rid of the ropes on your wings, I promise.” He spoke softly, waiting until Jon turned back around to start cutting through the thicker rope.

Jon let out a small gasp when Martin’s hand brushed against the wings, making him panic for a second. “Oh god, I didn’t hurt you did I?”

Jon frantically shook his head no, trying to curl into himself. Martin touched his shoulder lightly, and Jon froze up. “Alright Jon, let’s get you up. Can you walk?” A nod.

After a few tries of standing up it was obvious that Jon couldn’t, in fact, walk but the fear dancing in his eyes kept him pushing himself up to move despite Martin’s soft reassurances.

“Jon.” Jonah’s voice came from behind both of them making Jon freeze up like a deer in headlights. “Let Martin pick you up, this is a sad sight to see.”

Seeing Jon practically deflate in his arms made Martin’s blood boil, but he pushed it down in order to pick up Jon who weighed lighter than he should.

Glaring at Jonah who still had a small grin on his face, Martin curtly says. “We’re leaving now.” Leaving no room for argument from Jonah he started walking back into the hall, arms still full with Jon.

A deep chuckle echoed through the halls and into Martin’s open room where Jon was laying on the bed and Martin packing everything he had dropped and some more into a bag. “You take care now, the outside is rather harsh.”

Martin  _ really _ wishes he could kill Jonah.


End file.
